MOTHERHOOD

"About every true mother there is a sancity of martyrdom-
and when she is no more in the body, her children see her with
the ring of light around her head."

Godey's Lady's Book, 1867

THE ART OF DOMESTIC BLISS

.....in a time lacking in certainty and filled with anguish and despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the world, through her work, a portion of it's lost heart. -Louise Bogan
“And there are my children!
My darling, precious children!
For their sakes I am continually constrained
to seek after an amended, a sanctified life;
what I want them to become
I must become myself”.

~ Elizabeth Prentiss, Stepping Heavenward

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Criss Cross Days...




If there is one thing I have learned from raising my five children it is that whenever we are tired,worried,distracted,or not feeling well and need the children to behave, they will be at their worst. They pick up loud and clear, that we aren't really available to them.They then become determined to get our attention any way they can.

Sometimes that is in a negative way. Criss- cross times can spiral down into eruptions of tantrums, and whining, & tears. Maybe even some destructive behavior like making a big mess or breaking something in the home. It is during these times where I may need to take a break from my schedule and separate the child into a quiet place . A little time out is in order.

Meantime I try to get a little R&R, like make a cup of herb tea and relax , turn on some music and take few deep breathes.

After I have restored my peace of mind , and the time-out is over. I take the child into my confidence, gather my little one into my lap and speak softly and slowly to them. I explain that I are having a criss-cross day. And no matter the hour, I tell them that I am going to start the day all over again. I give them a kiss and say good morning.

A great tradition on a criss-cross day is to have a pancake supper to symbolize that you can always start over and begin anew. Finally to erase any lingering feelings from a criss-cross day...I try to apologize for my part in the day that went wrong. And ask for forgiveness. And then I ask the child is there anything they are sorry about. And usually there is.

It usually takes two to have a criss -cross day.We make up with hugs and kisses and start over again. Difficult days are really a blessing in disguise , for they always bring us closer together with the realization that when there is love at home , we experience heaven on earth.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

An Island of Security....A Mother at Home

Very largely does the wife hold in her hands, as a sacred trust, the happiness and the highest good of the hearts that nestle there. In the last analysis, home happiness depends on the wife.
  • Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere.
  • Her hands fashion its beauty.
  • Her heart makes its love.
And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, that no woman who has been called to be a wife, and has listened to the call, should consider any price too great to pay, to be . . .

the light,
the joy,
the blessing,
the inspiration,
of a home.

The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing something better than anything else her hands could find to do beneath the skies.

A true mother is one of the holiest secrets of home happiness.

God sends many beautiful things to this world,

many noble gifts;

but no blessing is richer than that which He bestows

in a mother

who has learned love's lessons well,

and has realized something of the meaning

of her sacred calling.










~ J. R. Miller, "Secrets of Happy Home Life, 1894" ~

Archive